Dear Qubes Community,
We're pleased to announce the stable release of Qubes OS 4.3.1! This patch release aims to consolidate all the security updates and bug fixes that have occurred since the previous stable release. Our goal is to provide a secure and convenient way for users to install (or reinstall) the latest stable Qubes release with an up-to-date ISO. The ISO and associated [verification files](Verifying signatures — Qubes OS Documentation) are available on the [downloads](Download Qubes OS | Qubes OS) page.
## Announcements
- [Qubes 4.2 will reach end of life (EOL) on 2026-06-21](Qubes OS 4.2 approaching end of life | Qubes OS). If you're a current 4.2 user who's been waiting to upgrade to 4.3, the release of Qubes 4.3.1 is the perfect opportunity to do so.
- [Qubes OS User Survey 2026](CryptPad) is now live! Whether you're a long-time Qubes user or haven't even installed it yet, we want to hear about your experiences and about what matters to you. Help us make Qubes the best reasonably secure operating system it can be. The survey takes 10-20 minutes and is fully anonymous. We do not collect any data except for the answers you provide. If you've ever wanted to influence the development of Qubes, now is your chance. Make your voice heard!
## What's new in Qubes 4.3.1?
- [Security updates](Qubes security bulletins (QSBs) | Qubes OS)
- [Bug fixes](Issues · QubesOS/qubes-issues · GitHub)
- Included Fedora template upgraded to Fedora 43. (Reminder: [Fedora 42 has reached end of life.](Fedora 42 approaching end of life | Qubes OS))
If you're upgrading from Qubes 4.2, also see the [Qubes 4.3 release notes](Qubes OS 4.3 release notes — Qubes OS Documentation).
## How to get Qubes 4.3.1
- If you'd like to install Qubes for the first time or perform a clean reinstallation on an existing system, there's never been a better time to do so! Simply [download](Download Qubes OS | Qubes OS) the Qubes 4.3.1 ISO and follow our [installation guide](Installation guide — Qubes OS Documentation).
- If you're currently using Qubes 4.2, make sure to [upgrade from 4.2 to 4.3](How to upgrade to Qubes 4.3 — Qubes OS Documentation) no later than 2026-06-21, which is when [4.2 will reach EOL](Qubes OS 4.2 approaching end of life | Qubes OS).
- If you're currently on Qubes 4.3 (4.3.0 or 4.3.1-rc1), [update normally](How to update — Qubes OS Documentation) (which includes [upgrading any EOL templates and standalones](How to update — Qubes OS Documentation) you might have) in order to make your system essentially equivalent to the stable Qubes 4.3.1 release. No reinstallation or other special action is required.
In all cases, we strongly recommend [making a full backup](How to back up, restore, and migrate — Qubes OS Documentation) beforehand.
## Known issues in Qubes 4.3.1
It's possible that templates restored in 4.3.1 from a pre-4.3 backup may continue to target their original Qubes OS release repos ([#8701](Templates restored from backup created in older release silently continue to target old repos even after updating · Issue #8701 · QubesOS/qubes-issues · GitHub)). After restoring such templates in 4.3.1, enter the following additional commands in a dom0 terminal:
sudo qubes-dom0-update -y qubes-dist-upgrade
sudo qubes-dist-upgrade --releasever=4.3 --template-standalone-upgrade -y
This will automatically choose the templates that need to be upgraded. The templates will be shut down during this process.
Fresh templates on a clean 4.3.1 installation are not affected. Users who perform an in-place upgrade from 4.2 to 4.3 (instead of restoring templates from a backup) are also not affected, since the in-place upgrade process already includes the above fix in stage 4. For more information, see issue [#8701](Templates restored from backup created in older release silently continue to target old repos even after updating · Issue #8701 · QubesOS/qubes-issues · GitHub).
[View the full list of known bugs affecting Qubes 4.3](Issues · QubesOS/qubes-issues · GitHub) in our [issue tracker](Issue tracking — Qubes OS Documentation).
## What's a patch release?
The Qubes OS Project uses the [semantic versioning](https://semver.org/) standard. Version numbers are written as `[major].[minor].[patch]`. Hence, we refer to releases that increment the third number as "patch releases." A patch release does not designate a separate, new major or minor release of Qubes OS. Rather, it designates its respective major or minor release (in this case, 4.3) inclusive of all updates up to a certain point. See our [supported releases](Supported releases — Qubes OS Documentation) for a comprehensive list of major and minor releases and our [version scheme](Version scheme — Qubes OS Documentation) documentation for more information about how Qubes OS releases are versioned.
This announcement is also available on the Qubes website: